How to build the upper pecs with high clavicual insertions

[heavyhitter]

So much great information on this thread. Last chest workout I did the pec minor dips. Very good exercise. I could feel the upper chest working immensely. Going to include more of these exercises each chest workout. Thanks fellas.

Try super setting pec minor dips with band over and backs. Really blows up the upper pec and is great for shoulder health.

 

[relentless4287]

Now this i did say....

whole trick with upper pecs is chest and sternum held high...and i can get alot of people in a great mechanical position and stretch by having them lower bar on smith machine to low pec level...elbows have to travel downward not out....and be careful because as great as it is for building an upper chest the great mechanical position can put you into a position that you could get injured if you start bouncing up heavy 6 rep presses......higher reps (grip doesnt matter as much wide or wherever you feel most comfortable) but stay strict and true on form and work in higher rep range but progressively....

You have any vids or pics of this dante

 

[doug1]

crap, its sideways Anyway, this is 60 degrees on a nice Hoist adjustable bench. It's calibrated and says the incline. Pretty damn steep!

 

[doug1]

This is 20 degrees, I usually use this or even less for incline work.

 

[heavyhitter]

View attachment 77032

This is 20 degrees, I usually use this or even less for incline work.

This one, or maybe even just barely higher is what I use for the DC exercise. The sternum needs to be held really high and shoulder blades retracted. Lower with the elbows in to the low portion of the chest. It's gonna feel a little awkward so lower it slowly and then power it back up explosively but under control.

 

[kingsnake]

Hey Doggcrapp. Yeah sorry for the confusion. That guy on bodybuilding. com is saying that military presses is better for upper chest development for guys with high clavicle insertions. Right now with my front delt upper bicep tendon injury I have to do my incline presses on a steep 60 to 70 degree incline. Any lower then 60 degrees and my injury gets aggrevated. The thing is though I can really feel my upper chest working when doing my presses and flyes at a steep 60 to 70 degree incline bench. What I do is retract scapula down and back puffing my chest out while on a 60 to 70 degree incline which puts an arch in my lower back. Hey Doggragg. Do you have any vids of your technique for a better visual?

 

[Knight9]

Hey Doggcrapp. Yeah sorry for the confusion. That guy on bodybuilding. com is saying that military presses is better for upper chest development for guys with high clavicle insertions. Right now with my front delt upper bicep tendon injury I have to do my incline presses on a steep 60 to 70 degree incline. Any lower then 60 degrees and my injury gets aggrevated. The thing is though I can really feel my upper chest working when doing my presses and flyes at a steep 60 to 70 degree incline bench. What I do is retract scapula down and back puffing my chest out while on a 60 to 70 degree incline which puts an arch in my lower back. Hey Doggragg. Do you have any vids of your technique for a better visual?

A steep incline can target both upper pecs and delts. Military pressing has turned into a very high incline for injury prevention in many people's routines.

I'm not sure how his explanation wasn't clear. Poor doggragg lol. Perhaps read it again a few times to visualize?

 

[heavyhitter]

A steep incline can target both upper pecs and delts. Military pressing has turned into a very high incline for injury prevention in many people's routines.

I'm not sure how his explanation wasn't clear. Poor doggragg lol. Perhaps read it again a few times to visualize?

Ya I don't know what people aren't getting about this. It's basically just an incline press, but as opposed to bringing the bar down to the collarbone area, you bring it down to the lower pec just around or below the nipple area.

 

[kingsnake]

Just watched some vids of Dusty Hanshaw. I understand now. I'll try this technique the next time I hit chest on Friday.

Hey fellas. What do you guys think of Branch Warren's form when he trains chest. Here's a link to him training chest.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MXXuLDz-5k"]Branch Warren and Jose Raymond Chest Workout PREP For Mr Olympia 2014 - YouTube[/ame]

Look at 2:10 with Branch's form on the incline barbell benchpress. Notice how he has his elbows tucked in and the bar lowers to his mid chest level. This is how I have to do my incline presses now with my slab tear injury but the problem now is with my elbows tucked in like this my triceps fail before my pecs do.

Look at part 5:40 where Branch Warren has his elbows tucked to his sides while doing flat dumbbell presses. This is also the way I have to do my dumbbell presses now with my slab tear injury. Once again since I'm so use to flaring my elbows out and am actually stronger that way, by keeping my elbows tucked in like Branch, my weights are cut in half and my triceps fail before my pecs do.

How the hell does Branch Warren do his presses this way without his triceps taking over the majority of the load??????

I'm actually a lot stronger and feel it in my upper chest more by flaring my elbows out and lowering the bar to my clavicles like the way Jose Raymond does his presses in this video at part 3:30. The down side though is by keeping the elbows flared out and benching bodybuilder style this has caused my slab tear.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTW2SRyzGTU"]branch warren insane chest workout - YouTube[/ame]

Look at part 2:10 in this vid of Branch doing incline presses with 405 with his elbows tucked in. Can't figure out how his triceps don't take most of the load that way because mine do. Also look at part 4:15 of him flat dumbbell pressing with elbows tucked in. Can you say triceps anyone. LOL.

 

[heavyhitter]

Just watched some vids of Dusty Hanshaw. I understand now. I'll try this technique the next time I hit chest on Friday.

Hey fellas. What do you guys think of Branch Warren's form when he trains chest. Here's a link to him training chest.

Branch Warren and Jose Raymond Chest Workout PREP For Mr Olympia 2014 - YouTube

Look at 2:10 with Branch's form. Notice how he has his elbows tucked in and the bar lowers to his mid chest level. This is how I have to do my incline presses now with my slab tear injury but the problem now is with my elbows tucked in like this my triceps fail before my pecs do.

Look at part 5:40 where Branch Warren has his elbows tucked to his sides while doing flat dumbbell presses. This is also the way I have to do my dumbbell presses now with my slab tear injury. Once again since I'm so use to flaring my elbows out and am actually stronger that way, by keeping my elbows tucked in like Branch, my weights are cut in half and my triceps fail before my pecs do.

How the hell does Branch Warren do his presses this way without his triceps taking over the majority of the load.

I'm actually a lot stronger and feel it in my upper chest more by flaring my elbows out and lowering the bar to my clavicles like the way Jose Raymond does his presses in this video at part 3:30.

His triceps do take over a lot of the load, but remember he started as a powerlifter so he's used to it. Try pre exhausting first if you find your triceps failing before chest. Hit some flies and then bench.

 

[DK0223]

Gonna try this incline press lowering bar to below the nipples next chest workout. If DC recommends it, it's gotta be good!

 

[heavyhitter]

Gonna try this incline press lowering bar to below the nipples next chest workout. If DC recommends it, it's gotta be good!

Just take it slow and start out with pretty light weight. Like a 45 on each side. It doesn't take much. It's more about the feel and contraction.

 

[heavyhitter]

One other thing, I doubt your gym has one available but if it's in the budget for you look into getting a Swiss bar from elitefts. Or if you know of. A decent metal fabricator have one made. Being able to press with a parallel grip does wonders for taking the pressure off the shoulders. Also, look into dumbbell hex presses ala mountaindog1. These are the only flat bench I can do (they can also be done at an incline) that cause me no collarbone pain. And the action of pressing them together while pressing them up really smashes the inner and upper pec area. Thick inner pecs kind of forces the chest musculature up sort of in the same way a thick well developed brachialis pushes the bicep up improving the peak somewhat.

 

[kingsnake]

Hey heavyhitter. Good call with the swiss bar. The swiss bar is what I use when doing heavy steep angle incline presses. It does force you to engage the triceps more which takes away from the pecs but it's better then nothing. I would like to by my own foot ball bar but they are so damn expensive.

On the last utube link up above of Branch Warren training chest, go to part 4:48 where Branch is doing flat presses with a foot ball bar. That's the kind of bar I wish I had. At my gym the swiss bar that they have doesn't have the grips going diagonal like the one Branch is using. I think the diagonal grips Branch is using engages more pecs because it has your grip in between a neutral grip and a pronated grip. With a completely neutral grip like the swiss bar at my gym it seems to engage to much triceps.

 

[machomadness22]

https://youtu.be/oWl6gPApVbs


This is a Charles Glass video, I've been using this workout every other month with success, I really like the different angles that he shows. It has helped me tremendously. Try it see if its alright on your shoulders.

 

[superbigd]

https://youtu.be/oWl6gPApVbs


This is a Charles Glass video, I've been using this workout every other month with success, I really like the different angles that he shows. It has helped me tremendously. Try it see if its alright on your shoulders.

anyone know the name of this machine he is using at 8 minute mark? Looks like a plate loaded fly variation

And does anyone have a video of what DC is referring to? Basically it's doing incline bench press bringing the bar down to below nipple area and keeping elbows tucked right?

 

[DK0223]

One other thing, I doubt your gym has one available but if it's in the budget for you look into getting a Swiss bar from elitefts. Or if you know of. A decent metal fabricator have one made. Being able to press with a parallel grip does wonders for taking the pressure off the shoulders. Also, look into dumbbell hex presses ala mountaindog1. These are the only flat bench I can do (they can also be done at an incline) that cause me no collarbone pain. And the action of pressing them together while pressing them up really smashes the inner and upper pec area. Thick inner pecs kind of forces the chest musculature up sort of in the same way a thick well developed brachialis pushes the bicep up improving the peak somewhat.

Hey HH thx for the tip. My gym doesn't have one of these, however it has like a smaller version of a hex bar, usually guys curl with it. But I guess I could use that?

 

[machomadness22]

anyone know the name of this machine he is using at 8 minute mark? Looks like a plate loaded fly variation

And does anyone have a video of what DC is referring to? Basically it's doing incline bench press bringing the bar down to below nipple area and keeping elbows tucked right?

It's just a flat bench fly machine, never seen it called anything else.

 

[CHAPS]

Dante incline pressing, super wide grip looks to be at nipple level maybe a bit below, chest held high. I'm going to give this a shot.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qw--6S53wk"]Picture 003.avi - YouTube[/ame]

 

[kingsnake]

Thanks for the vid showing Dante's technique with inclines. I'm going to try it tomorrow when I train chest but I with my labrum/slab tear injury, I'm going to have to keep my elbows tucked to my sides while lowering the bar to just below my nipples. If I bench with a super wide grip like that I'll tear the tissues at the injury site right off the bone.